Days Events
by twilight twin-blade
Summary: Sir Pink, the ever handsome, finds Michael and I again (yay!)...
1. Chapter 1

Q one q

Day events

"Haseo?" While utterly pleased, I have to admit to being taken aback. I mean I know it's a common enough name and all, in Japan, but my idea of Haseo is something all together…different. But, I had to agree, "Cool! Suits you."

The smile he gave me said a lot. He knew who I was thinking of, I just could tell. As I was about to question him more on his choice of cosplay, my friend, Michael, came running up.

"I was calling you! The Event is about to start!"

"Oh, man, I wanted to have time to wander first!" I cried out, and made to leave, but turned back at the last moment to wave a gloved hand to Haseo. He gave a goofy grin and touched his own gloved fingers to his forehead and gave me farewell salute.

"See ya! Maybe you can show for the 25 year reunion of dothack/Sign. They come on this afternoon. In Mac Anu!"

I and Michael had already headed through the noisy, crowded corridor but this caused my footsteps to pause and I cast a look back over my shoulder. Haseo had already disappeared into the maddening throng. Buffeted along with the masses of costumed humanity, I wondered what he meant. I had read every handout and program mailed to me along with the tickets. The brochures, what was going on where, the food court locations, the bathrooms( yes, even costumed otakus must use the Necessary), and even those blessed individuals chosen solely to mend and make repairs on all of us with stars in our eyes.

"Who was that guy? He looked like Rainbow Brite had crashed into an adept rogue." Michael sniffed.

I thought there might have been a hint of sarcasm there, but I let it slide. "His hair was gorgeous."

"Agreed. You don't often see that shade of pink outside of Harajuku."

I couldn't help but laugh. Michael was Michael. The bestest guy friend a girl could have. He was so much like my brothers, I considered him a brother. The notion of us being significantly involved together was as remote to the both of us as going to Saturn. On flying pigs. Why spoil a perfectly good friendship by being romantically twined? Our other friends think we're lying, but it's true. We're just not that into each other.

He does own more manga than I do, something I'll forever hate him for. But I have out-played him on all the video games he owns, and my own as well. So, *_nyaaaaahhhh_*, we're even.

We slid into the elevator, went up three floors, and down the fairly open hallway and into a separate convention area of the hotel. Pushing aside the other cosplayers, we found our assigned seats just as the show was about to begin.

The Event was a quick run through of all things Bleach. It was hard to believe it's been over for six years. The last thing Tite Kubo did following the epic manga kinda stalled out in the sales department, not that it wasn't good, but everyone kept comparing it to how great it was or wasn't to Bleach. No problem. Sensei Kubo could probably retire on Bleach royalties. Never have to pen another four panel ever again. Sad, I did so like his work, and the deal he made with the powers that be was not to be taken lightly.

All through the run, we kept snickering at what we knew were obvious errors, and had to restrain ourselves a couple of times when things were blatantly wrong. I mean, after all, we knew the _Truth_.

Two hours later, we departed the room, talking with each other if we should report this or just let it go and accept it in the fun vein it was meant to be. Deciding to let it go, we made our way to the tenth floor, where they were having a buffet spread. Someone had actually ordered a giant ice sculpture depicting a Grunty, in celebration of The Event, I suppose. It was none other than the default Grunty of every server, the Noble.

_Mon Dieu_, I would have chosen the Aqua, seeing as it was made of water…duh.

Michael pointed with his giant cardboard sword (a remarkably life like reproduction of a Kotetsu, so totally in keeping with his Heavy Blade/Sanjuro persona) and laughed. "If I had to ride that thing across the field, my ass would freeze!"

"I'd be more worried that you'd fart and melt the grunty."

"That's cruel, Ilota, or did you decide to call yourself, Onihs, and all that backward stuff?"

"I hadn't thought of a name, just Harvest Cleric." I thought of what Haseo had said suddenly, and turned to Michael, poking him with my staff (not cardboard, by the way, but a renovated curtain rod with a giant glass ball attached and aluminum baster-pan side bars. A fair replication of a Clerics Staff, if I do say so myself). "Hey, what do you know of an event that's celebrating the 25th anniversary of hack Sign? Haseo mentioned it as we were heading out. Something about this afternoon?"

A tall, older man, who was doing a real good impersonation of Byakuya Kuchiki, Captain of Squad 6 from the series Bleach, spoke, "It was added at the last moment, after the programs were printed. If you go back down to the lobby, the courtesy desk might still have tickets. They're free, but you have to answer some DotHack-specific questions. I don't know that much about it, so I'm not interested, but good luck if you do."

I looked to Michael, "Are we free? Do you want to check it out?"

"Heck, yeah! Maybe they have a contest, best in class and such, I could pick up some bucks to spend to get more manga."

I said thank you to Captain Kuchiki and turned to Michael, moving my way past a family with five kids in tow, one dressed adorably like Rin from Squad 12 Research and Development. I pitied them when the three year old dropped that collector Spawn figurine, at how much money they had spent just to see it wasted. "You need more manga like I need more dust bunnies under my bed."

"And you call yourself an otaku. Shame, Shame!"

"Shut up, nerd."

"Takes one to know one."

"Shut up, geek."

"Takes one to know one."

"What are you, five?"

We both laughed and grabbed a quick plate of munchies and found a quiet corner to graze, and plan the rest of our day.


	2. Prologue

Q Prologue q

…**There's something about pink hair. Not the soft pink of new-born middle class baby girls. I mean the neon, rock your world pink. Shocking and nerve-rattling. Now imagine that hair six inches long in the front and spiky in the back in a kind of outlaw miscreant way, hanging just enough over the face to make him sullen. Yeah, I said '**_**him**_**'.**

**Outstanding. **

**You have to understand, in my world this kind of thing is not out of the ordinary. After all, I'm a certifiably crazed otaku. A comic-loving Japanese thriving geek who lives on ramen and milk jellies. Not together though, I mean, remember what happened to Naruto? **

**But the whole concept of this lifestyle suits me like a comfortable pair of sweat pants. I'd say jeans, but I don't wear them. Often.**

**So, here I was, in downtown San Antonio, at the annual SanJapan, a comic and anime convention with sellers galore and me with time and money to kill.**

**Creator is great. Only six months ago, I won a bit of money in the lotto, invested most of it, bought my muchly desired tickets to Japan, made arrangements with a cousin currently living there to stay and help her out with her living expenses and she would look for apprenticeship work for me while I did some other types of surveillance work I won't go into, yet. This convention was my last splurge, that portion of 250,000 dollars that I could blow as I saw fit. And here I was, in Otaku heaven, with a fistful of dollars and nobody in my way.**

**Except the guy in pink hair.**

**I couldn't for the life of me figure out what-or who-he was cosplaying. At first, I thought he was aping someone from a dash-and-slash game. But, there, on the fringes, was something else trying to make me remember…**

**Well, leave it at that. First impressions are not always right. I mean, who wears five inch platform buckle boots in white? With shocking blue trim? The short jacket, white and also trimmed in blue, was open, showing a chest and abdomen that had an all too familiar tattoo. But instead of red, this one was black.**

**Pants were white, strapped down with black and copper leatherwork, with buckles and weaponry that I couldn't make out just yet. He was turned sideways to me as I had entered the main lobby of the HB Gonzalez Convention Center, and blocked by people, so I couldn't see the entirety of his costume.**

"**DeathBringer!"**

**I actually cringed when I heard that baleful shout from across the lobby, and I spun automatically, a knee-jerk reaction to fighting, and braced my Harvest Cleric staff for the onslaught of demons and beasts. It was my best friend, meeting me at SanJapan to do one last fling before we left for overseas mid week. Shame on me, but I ignored him and turned back around at Sir Pinkness.**

**Yeah. Did I mention he was really handsome? And standing in front of me.**

"**Hi. I like your cosplay. Nice colors."**

"**Uh…" I couldn't speak. He was wearing red colored contacts. With tattooing on his face. Black lightning bolts.**

"**My name is Haseo."**


End file.
